Idolising Children?

Don Edgar has been pretty supportive of the work I’ve done to-date about childhood, development and all the issues that surround it.

The work he, and his wife Patricia Edgar do is inspiring. It always is a step ahead of the public debates. Their arguments are rooted in a breadth of research and common sense - there is no dogma, hysteria, just plain speaking and innovative and truly different ideas.

In The Age this week, Patricia wrote an opinion piece to support the launch of their new book: The New Child: In Search of Smarter Grown-ups from Wilkinson Publishing.

I haven’t read it yet. But, no doubt it will be about more than simply education.

The thing we often fail to grasp is that our children will grow up and be able to build on our knowledge, because they come after us they will know more about the way the world works and the way we interact. We need to find ways to embrace and engage with the world they are entering because we have to give them a values framework and teach them how to learn and support their development in this new environment. The new child requires a new kind of adult - an adult that respects and honours children as fellow human beings with responsibility for the future. Not just cute kids who need to go to school to learn stuff.

Tags: idolisingchildren, childhood, research